It is only befitting to begin our issue with the richest man of all time, a black man, the ruler of Mali, Mansa Musa Keita.Mansa Musa (about 1280 – about 1337) was an emperor (manse) of the Mali Empire during the 14th century. He became emperor in 1312. He was the first African ruler to be widely known throughout Europe and the Middle East, and is regarded as the richest person to have ever lived. His wealth greatly surpassing anyone today. Mansa Musa was the great nephew of Sundiata Keita, who was founder of the empire. He is famous for his Hajj (1324–5). His caravan was said to consist of 60,000 people carrying supplies and bags, 500 slaves each carrying a gold staff, and 80 to 100 camels each carrying 300 pounds of gold dust. On his journey, he is said to have given out millions of dollars worth of gold. He gave out so much gold in Cairo that the value stayed relatively low for many years. Mansa Musa stopped at multiple locations during his journey. These placed include Timbuktu, Gao, and Mecca. In Timbuktu, Mansa Musa made it a center of trade, culture, and Islam, which also helped increase the spread of Islam throughout Western Africa. Mansa Musa also helped to spread Islam. He was a devoted Muslim, and built many schools based on the teachings of the Qur'an, there also is a saying that every Friday when he stopped, while on his Hajj, he ordered a Mosque to be built, because that is a Muslim holy day. He sent students to Islamic universities in northern Africa was fames sens 1345. After his Hajj, European cartographers began to draw Mansa Musa on maps. As the empire of Mali fell apart Mansa Musa's reputation did as well; he was no longer drawn as a noble king on maps, but instead more uncivilized. He was drawn as a parody of European royalty, and a normal person with a crown. Mansa Musa was married to Inari Kunate. Mansa Musa, at his time worth $900 billion is still the richest man to date. article on wikipedia Robert F. Smith - The richest black man in The U.S. today. According to the 2019 Forbes 2019 ranking of the world's billionaires, Nigerian business magnate Aliko Dangote had a net worth of $10.9 billion and was the world's richest black person. Other black billionaires on the 2019 Forbes list included Nigeria's Mike Adenuga with $9.1 billion, American investor Robert Smith with $5 billion, American businessman David Steward with $3 billion, American media mogul Oprah Winfrey with a net worth of $2.5 billion, Zimbabwean businessman Strive Masiyiwa with $2.4 billion, Angolan businesswoman Isabel dos Santos with $2.3 billion, South African gold magnate Patrice Motsepe with $2.3 billion, American sports executive Michael Jordan with $2.1 billion, Michael Lee-Chin of Canada with $1.9 billion, Nigeria's Abdul Samad Rabiu with $1.6 billion, Nigeria's Folorunsho Alakija with $1.1 billion, and Mo Ibrahim of the United Kingdom with $1.1 billion. Robert Frederick Smith (born December 1, 1962) is an American businessman, philanthropist, chemical engineer, and investor. He is the founder, chairman, and CEO of investment firm Vista Equity Partners. Forbes has named Smith on several business lists, including its list of the 100 greatest living business minds, and the wealthiest people in America. In 2019, Smith pledged to eliminate $34 million of student loan debt for the Morehouse College graduating class that year. For the pledge, he was named "Executive of the Year" at the 2019 PitchBook Private Equity Awards, which recognize individuals in the private equity industry who have made significant donations. He was also recognized as one of the 50 people "who defined 2019" on The Bloomberg 50 List. In high school, he applied for an internship at Bell Labs but was told the program was intended for college students. Smith persisted, calling each Monday for five months. When a student from M.I.T. did not show up, he got the position, and that summer he developed a reliability test for semiconductors. Smith earned a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Cornell University in 1985. At Cornell, he became a brother of Alpha Phi Alpha. In 1994, he received his Master of Business Administration from Columbia University with concentrations in finance and marketing. Smith worked at Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, Air Products & Chemicals and later at Kraft General Foods as a chemical engineer, where he earned two United States and two European patents. From 1994 to 2000, he worked for Goldman Sachs in technology investment banking, first in New York City and then in Silicon Valley. He advised on mergers and acquisition activity with companies such as Apple and Microsoft. In 2018, Smith was included in Vanity Fair’s New Establishment List, which is an annual ranking of individuals who have made impactful business innovations. Vista Equity Partners In 2000, Smith founded Vista Equity Partners, a private equity and venture capital firm of which he is the principal founder, chairman and chief executive. As of 2019, Vista has over $46 billion in cumulative capital commitments, owns over 50 software companies and has 60,000 employees worldwide, making it the fourth largest enterprise software company after Microsoft, Oracle, and SAP. Vista has exclusively focused on the enterprise software, data and technology sectors. Among Vista's portfolio companies are Finastra, TIBCO, Solera, Infoblox, Mediaocean, Vertafore, Ping Identity, Lithium, Cvent, EAB and Datto. In October 2014, Vista closed its Fund V at $5.8 billion. In January 2015, Vista Equity Partners was named the best performing private equity firm for the previous 10 years, according to the HEC-Dow Jones annual ranking conducted by professor Oliver Gottschalg. Preqin, a consulting firm that tracks the industry, reports that Vista's third fund returned $2.46 for every dollar invested, better than every other big fund raised between 2006 and 2010, the boom years for private equity. In 2017, Vista Equity Partners was reported to have $30 billion under management, and Smith was named as Private Equity International's 2016 Game Changer of the Year. In May 2019, Vista Equity Partners put in a bid to buy Kantar, the data analytics business owned by WPP. The 2019 PitchBook Private Equity Awards named Vista Equity Partners 'Dealmaker of the Year' in recognition of its "especially notable" performance "as it completed a series of huge deals, raised its largest fund to date and —in a first —took a portfolio company public." Philanthropy and public positions Smith is the board chairman of Carnegie Hall; he is the first African American to hold that position. Smith is the founding director and president of the Fund II Foundation. Under his leadership, Fund II Foundation has invested in organizations such as Cornell, UNCF, National Park Foundation, Susan G. Komen, and Global Wildlife Conservation, among many others. He is the chairman of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, serves on the board of overseers of Columbia Business School, as a member of the Cornell Engineering College Council, and a Trustee of the Boys & Girls Clubs of San Francisco. In 2018, Smith was the largest individual donor at the City of Hope Gala, earmarking funds towards prostate cancer treatment for black men and for breast cancer research for black women. Smith also donated $2.5 million to the Prostate Cancer Foundation to advance prostate cancer research among African-American men. Also in 2018, Smith donated $1 million to the Cultural Performance Center at the Denny Farrell Riverbank State Park in Harlem, which was subsequently named the Robert Frederick Smith Center for Performing Arts in recognition of his gift. Smith was named as one of the "Philanthropy 50" by The Chronicle of Philanthropy in 2017. In May 2017, The Giving Pledge announced that Smith had joined its ranks as its first African-American signatory. Smith is a member of the board of the Louis Armstrong House Museum, the only authentically preserved home of a jazz musician in the country, which manages the Louis Armstrong Research Collections, the largest single jazz musician archive in the world. With Smith's leadership at the Fund II Foundation, the museum has digitized the entire collection Armstrong left behind and made it available to the public. In 2016, Cornell University recognized Smith's leadership by naming the Robert Frederick Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering after him. Among the honors and awards Smith has received are the Candle in Business and Philanthropy Award from Morehouse College, the International Medical Corps Humanitarian of the Year Award, Ebony’s John H. Johnson Award, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Chairman's Award, the Reginald F. Lewis Achievement Award, the Humanitarian of the Year Award from the Robert Toigo Foundation, and the Ripple of Hope Award from Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights. Smith was also awarded an honorary doctorate of International Affairs from American University's School of International Service and an honorary doctorate from Morehouse College. In October 2019, Smith received the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy, recognizing him as one of “the most charitable and visionary philanthropists in the world”. Smith was also inducted into the Texas Business Hall of Fame as a Class of 2019 Legend in recognition of the “profound impact he made on the State’s economic growth”, as well as using his resources and influence to “better his community”. In May 2019, when he was at Morehouse College to receive an honorary doctorate and deliver the commencement address, he told the graduates he and his family would pay off the entire student loan debt of the 2019 Morehouse College graduating class of 396 students. "This is my class", he told the graduating seniors, "and I know my class will pay this forward". He had previously donated $1.5 million to the school in January 2019, to be used for scholarships and a park. article on wikipedia Barack Obama - 44th President of The United States of AmericaIn 2005, the Obama family applied the proceeds of a book deal and moved from a Hyde Park, Chicago condominium to a $1.6 million house (equivalent to $2.1 million in 2019) in neighboring Kenwood, Chicago. The purchase of an adjacent lot—and sale of part of it to Obama by the wife of developer, campaign donor and friend Tony Rezko—attracted media attention because of Rezko's subsequent indictment and conviction on political corruption charges that were unrelated to Obama. In December 2007, Money Magazine estimated Obama's net worth at $1.3 million (equivalent to $1.6 million in 2019) . Their 2009 tax return showed a household income of $5.5 million—up from about $4.2 million in 2007 and $1.6 million in 2005—mostly from sales of his books. On his 2010 income of $1.7 million, he gave 14% to non-profit organizations, including $131,000 to Fisher House Foundation, a charity assisting wounded veterans' families, allowing them to reside near where the veteran is receiving medical treatments. Per his 2012 financial disclosure, Obama may be worth as much as $10 million. Buying BlackPHXHERBNOILS is a natural herbal apothecary company based out of Phoenix Arizona. We specialize in herbal supplements, skincare, and haircare for the entire family VEGAN✅ ORGANIC✅ HERBAL MEDICINE✅ Custom made selection of Herbal Apothecary. We are currently offering 20% off all Herbal Supplements and free shipping on orders. IllinoisJoFew ingredients. Lots of love! Ask us to create a new recipe JUST FOR YOU! We welcome all needs from moisturizing properties to lather feel and texture to fragrance or exfoliant. Don't worry. We'll do all the hard stuff, while you await your Handmade Homemade Gentle Safe Locally Sourced Soap! IllinoisJo Making Grandma Proud Bar Soap handmade with the world's finest ingredients such as coconut oil, palm oil, olive oil, cocoa butter and shea butter. Each and every batch colored and garnished to match fragrance selection. wholesale, retail, white lable, dropshipping available |